Your First Year in Real Estate: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional

Your 1st Year in Real Estate should be called The Fundamentals of a Successful Real Estate Career. Dirk tells you exactly how to create a business that is predictable and can be duplicated. One of the biggest worries for all agents is when and where the next closing (check) will come from. Dirk illustrates how to make your business proactive instead of reactive. He shows you exactly how to predict the amount of business you will generate based on activity, this information is priceless! Dirk even gives you the activities that pay! The book goes well beyond your 1st year in detailing the importance of time management and cost control. Dirk goes into extensive detail about these often-misunderstood elements of really high performers. It's in these chapters that Dirk details how to become the best of the best and achieve a high net income not just a high gross.

In my estimation this is a must read for every agent who wants to achieve any measure of success in Real Estate and have a life. Dirk's career in Real Estate was one of massive success while enjoying a life away from work. An often-stated accolade of Dirk's career was that he did it all while working a 4-Day workweek, but I believe even more important, with a moral compass and ethics. Dirk will show you exactly what to do every day to be successful and then he challenges you to maintain focus and balance, something I plan to emulate.

A great book that I continue to reread and find more value. This is an important part of my library.

Thank you Dirk


Must Read for the Real Estate Rookie!   February 11, 2002
Nicole Thome (Orange County, CA USA)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Mr. Zeller's book offers great insight and motivation for those new to the real estate profession. I read it cover to cover in a day and plan on reading it several times over. Only 2 months into my career, I felt like he was describing the very things I'm going through right now. I highly recommend this book!


Exactly what any new agent needs!!   September 6, 2002
Rick the Realtor (Dallas, TX)
24 out of 28 found this review helpful

This is the guide that new agents are looking for. I have been in the real estate for 20+ years and no one has compiled such a comprehensive resource for new agents. I can not thank you enough for writing this book "Your 1st Year in Real Estate." Every chapter explains to new agents exactly what to expect
and how to move forward in their new career.

Every new agent joining our company receives a copy of your book. If they have not received the book prior to our new agent training program, they receive a copy the first day of training. We encourage them to read it and use it as their
real estate reference guide.

The chapter on "Making Good Things Happen" is used for our goal setting class.
"Take 15 Minutes to Dream" really makes them think and "Your Step-by-Step Plan" with the nine steps is exactly what they need to hear and do to jump start their career. The goal setting plan is simple and helps the new agent understand goals do not have to be difficult to be achieved.

It is easy to tell your book was written from experience of one who lived it and made a successful career by following the same advice and exact steps that you are sharing with others.

Kathy Collings, CRB, CRS
Director of Training
F. C. Tucker Co., Inc.
Indianapolis, Indiana


Simple, but don't let that fool you. Valuable information!   May 16, 2002
Robert Pearson (Milpitas, CA USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I was hoping that this book would lay out in detail all that a newcomer to real estate needed to do in their first year to be successful. Like most books of this nature, though, it provided a lot of general guidelines to doing well, but no real specifics on exactly HOW to do it.

Luckily, this only lasted the first portion of the book. And, while the first part was not as good as I hoped for, the second part more than made up for it! Starting with the chapter on "Mastering Your Sales Skills, Part I" the book really gets into the details of getting your business off to a great start.

What was most valuable to me were the sections on :

- Correctly defining what prospects/leads are for you (and then concetrating on those people that meet your criteria and not dealing with others)

- Paying attention to profit & loss with regard to your business activities. (You don't want to be one of those people who buys their business either through huge amounts of time invested, or by purchasing all the latest gimmicks that don't help increase your sales.)

- Ideas on how to effectively run your business and still maintain a good balance with your family time. This is a critical ingredient that helps prevent burnout!

All in all, I believe this is a book worth reading and putting into practice. In particular, this book in combination with Tom Hopkin's "How to Master the Art of Listing and Selling Real Estate" and Danielle Kennedy's "How to List and Sell Real Estate in the 21st Century" provide a very strong foundation and a detailed list of things to do to get your business going. You can't help but be as successful as you want to be with these books guiding you.